Nimiq and the University of Birmingham Demonstrate SynapTrack to Trace Cross-Chain Illicit Activity
Berlin, Germany, February 25th, 2026, Chainwire
First product version presented in London on 25 February and now open to developers, researchers, and the broader crypto community
Nimiq today announces the release of SynapTrack, a next-generation anti–money laundering (AML) framework for blockchain systems designed to trace illicit fund flows faster and with fewer false positives, while automatically adapting to evolving criminal tactics.
SynapTrack was presented in London on 25 February by University of Birmingham researchers at CyberASAP Demo Day. During the event, the team outlined how the system can support investigations in cross-chain laundering scenarios, cases in which funds are bridged between networks or dispersed across multiple chains to obscure their origin. Following the London presentation, SynapTrack is now open to developers, researchers, and the broader crypto community for feedback and collaboration.
For collaborations, please visit: https://synaptrack.co.uk/
Built for the hardest part of blockchain investigations: cross-chain flows
While blockchains provide transparency at the ledger level, tracing illicit activity becomes significantly harder when funds move across chains, pass through bridges, or split into multiple paths. SynapTrack v1 focuses on these realities, using blockchain-aware pattern analysis and a self-improving algorithm that continuously updates its detection logic as adversaries change tactics.
Reducing false positives to unblock investigations
Many monitoring approaches catch suspicious patterns but generate a high volume of false alerts that must be manually reviewed, creating operational bottlenecks. SynapTrack is designed to deliver a substantially lower false-positive rate so investigators can prioritize the most meaningful leads.
In early testing, SynapTrack was evaluated using real-world data related to the 2025 Bybit hack, where attackers stole $1.5bn in digital tokens. In this scenario, SynapTrack traced the attacker’s activity with a false positive rate below 2%.
Research-driven, engineering-ready
SynapTrack originates from research by Dr Pascal Berrang and PhD student Endong Liu at the University of Birmingham, developed with implementation support and real-world blockchain constraints contributed by Nimiq. Nimiq has long worked closely with academic and research efforts and is known for implementing new technologies across the blockchain stack, always with a focus on making blockchain systems easy to use for developers and end users.
Max Burger, Global Ecosystem Developer, Nimiq, said:
“SynapTrack is the first product milestone of a research-driven effort to make blockchain investigations more scalable, especially when laundering patterns evolve and cross-chain activity complicates analysis. We’re opening it up to developers, researchers, and the wider crypto community for testing, feedback, and collaborative improvement.”
Dr Pascal Berrang, University of Birmingham, said:
“The last few years have seen a near-exponential growth in blockchain transactions. While many of these are legitimate, blockchains are attractive to criminals as funds can be moved very quickly to other jurisdictions. Our work with Nimiq and the creation of SynapTrack is addressing this black spot, and will enable more effective regulation, making the whole ecosystem of blockchain safer and more trustworthy.”
Collaboration / access: https://synaptrack.co.uk/
About SynapTrack
SynapTrack is an adaptive investigation and AML framework for blockchain systems designed to identify and trace fund flows associated with illicit activity—particularly across cross-chain transactions. The system dynamically scores the likelihood that transactions form part of laundering workflows and continuously adapts to new tactics through a self-improving detection approach. SynapTrack v1 was presented in London on 25 February 2026 and is now open to developers, researchers, and the broader crypto community for evaluation and collaboration via https://synaptrack.co.uk/.
About Nimiq
Nimiq is an open-source blockchain project and engineering team dedicated to making blockchain technologies simple, accessible, and practical to use. Nimiq has consistently worked closely with academic and research communities and is known for thoughtfully implementing new technologies across the blockchain stack, combining rigorous security practices with a strong focus on usability.
About the University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, and its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 6,500 international students from nearly 150 countries.
University of Birmingham Enterprise helps researchers turn their ideas into new services, products and enterprises that meet real-world needs. We also provide incubation, and support innovators and entrepreneurs with mentoring, advice, and training, manage the University’s Academic Consultancy Service, and University of Birmingham Enterprise Operating Divisions. Follow us on LinkedIn and X.
About CyberASAP
CyberASAP (Cyber security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme), now in its ninth year, supports the commercialisation of academic cyber security research through an 11-month series of workshops, skills training and industry engagement. CyberASAP Demo Day is the culmination of CyberASAP, a programme funded by the UK Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and delivered by Innovate UK.